The news of a little one’s passing is always harrowing, and there is an important lesson to be learned from the following tragic story, from the UK.
The importance of learning child first aid has been highlighted this week, following an inquest into the death of a 15-month-old tot who choked on some blackberries.
Little Thomas Ford was out picking berries near his UK home last September when the incident occurred. The tot was being carried on his father Robert’s shoulders in a baby backpack, while five-year-old sister Olivia walked along beside them.
As Olivia helped herself to blackberries, Robert picked and passed them back to son Thomas over his shoulder.
The family were only about 10 minutes away from home when Robert realised that Thomas was choking. During an inquest this week, he recalled how he struggled to get his son out of the backpack due to trouble with the buckle.
Once Robert got Thomas into his arms, he spotted berries coming out of his mouth and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre. While he was doing this, he got Olivia to call wife Serena, who is a trained nurse.
By the time Serena arrived however, Thomas didn’t have a pulse, and her attempts at resuscitation proved futile. Due to confusion over who was contacting the emergency services, it also took half an hour for paramedics to arrive. When they finally did, Thomas was airlifted to hospital for treatment.
Sadly, those 45 minutes during which Thomas had no pulse caused him irreparable brain damage and, three days later, he was taken off life support.
This week, Thomas’ death was ruled a tragic accident that could not have been prevented.
With Thomas’ sad story doing the rounds in the media, it has prompted experts to, once again, urge parents to brush up on their first aid so that they will be best prepared and equipped to deal with any emergency situation.
Our hearts go out to the Ford family.
